Grain-drier floor



Patented Oct. 12, 1880.

W. 85 F. TOEPPER. Grain Drier Floor.

(No Model.)

lVitnesses N.PETERS. PHOTO-LITHDGRAPHH WASHINGTON, D C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE, I

WENZEL TOEPFER AND FRANK TOEPFER, OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN.

GRAIN-DRIER FLO-OR.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 233,301, dated October12, 1880. Application filed June 8, 1880. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, WENZEL TOEPFER and FRANKTOEPFER, both of Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee, and in the Stateof Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inGrain-Drier Floors; and we do hereby declare that the following is afull, clear, and exact description thereof.

Our invention relates to the trays used in grain-drying kilns, and itsobject is to facilitate the use of thin perforated metal as floors forthe same.

In the drawings, Figure l is a perspective view, and Fig. 2 a section,of a portion of a tray embodying our invention.

Heretofore drying-trays have generally been covered with wire-gauzestretched over their frames and secured to them permanently, or thedrying-floors have been made up of perforated plates placed loosely uponthe rafters or riveted together by tie-straps; but ithas been found byexperience that wire is apt to give and stretch under the weight of theworkmen who shovel and distribute the grain, and form ridges, which theblade of the shovel often impinges to the extent that the Wire becomesworn and broken at points just over the crossties; and the perforatedmetal plates used must be very heavy, else they do not afford a hold forthe rivets, and being thick they hold the lodging grains in an uprightposition to be broken by the shovels, while thin metal has no tendencyto gripe the rivets, but either lets them fall through or be dislodgedby the shovplate drawn out.

els. Therefore, with a view to the use of thin perforated sheet-iron, weconstruct the frames of our trays in sectionsA A, of metal, between sixand ten feet long and between ten and thirteen inches wide, and we rivetor bolt a flanged holding-plate, a, to one end of each frame, and thenbolt these two frames together. The floor B is now placed upon theframe, and one edge thrust under the horizontal flange of theholding-plate a. The side holdingplates are riveted onto the frame, anda holding-plate similar to a placed on the other end. Each section isfloored in a similar manner and bolted to its mate until the requiredlength of tray has been reached, and whenever it becomes necessary toremove the floor of any section the side holding-plate of that sectionneed only be removed and the Thus we are enabled to use very thinflooring, and have it serve the purpose better than any other now inuse.

What we claim is A tray for grain-driers, consisting of sectional framesA A, perforated plates, and holding-plates a, the sections being boltedtogether, as described.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing we have hereunto set our handsthis 29th day of May, 1880.

WENZEL TOEPFER. i FRANK TOEPFER. Witnesses:

PETER G. TOEPFER, S. S. STOUT.

